1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to machinery and, more particularly, to a machine for crushing empty cans.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A number of machines for crushing metal cans to facilitate their recycling and eventual re-use have been shown in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 2,356,122 shows a crushing machine utilizing crusher disks to perform the crushing action. The crusher disks utilize conical working faces oriented in a converging relation to grip and crush cans delivered into a proper position by a chute.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,877,723 pertains to a garbage and refuse incinerator utilizing interfitting conically shaped crushing members having corrugated surface characteristics to crush incombustible waste material deposited into the residue receiver from a combustion area.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,036,517 relates to a can crusher utilizing a stationary crushing plate and a movable crushing plate driven by an eccentric cam to perform the crushing action.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,128 utilizes a conveyor to move cans from a hopper to a jaw mechanism which partially collapses the cans and then to a pair of counter-rotating rollers which further compresses them. Synchronization of the jaw crushing element to the conveyor is required for proper operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,351 utilizes a pair of rollers having a substantially square cross-section with rounded edges to form the crusher elements. The square cross-section rollers require special gearing and power trains to rotate them in a 45.degree. out-of-phase relationship to flatten or crush cans and bottles in the interfitting flat surfaces of the rollers. One of the rollers is mounted on a spring-biased yoke member to allow it to be moved away from the other member in the event that a non-crushable object is inserted into the apparatus.